Gaming devices such as casino gaming devices, e.g. slot machines, have been popular for over a century. Initially such devices were mechanical devices presenting one or more mechanical spinning reels to randomly select and display winning or losing outcomes at a single pay line. Modernly such devices are computer controlled and some include video displays, electro-mechanical stepper motor controlled physical reels or combinations thereof. Typically these devices display game symbols for the play of a base game and perhaps offer one or more secondary games sometimes referred to as bonus or feature games. For example, for a video device, the game may present a base game depicting video images of five reels each with three symbol display row positions, producing a 3 row×5 column matrix of positions for symbols. One or more pay lines are provided. Under control of the computer processor the video display depicts the reels spinning and stopping to arrange the game symbols in the matrix and where a predetermined winning combination of symbols is obtained on a wagered upon (i.e. enabled) pay line or pay arrangement the player receives a prize. Of course the foregoing description should not be deemed to be limiting since awards may be issued for symbols scatted in the matrix, i.e. a “scatter pay” and some symbols may trigger additional features such as a secondary game. Further game symbols may be a hand of cards such as for video Blackjack or video Poker, one or Keno, Bingo or Lottery cards or the like with different rules of play as is known in the art.
The prior art the spinning reel games, whether video or electro-mechanical, typically have fixed, defined physical or virtual reel strips. For mechanical reels the reel strips are printed on a substrate and hence are in fixed positions. The rotation and stopping of the reels is controlled by stepper motors and include a defined number of“stops”. Typically a symbol (“symbol” as used herein, unless otherwise defined, includes blank positions on the reel where there is no graphic symbol) position is assigned to a stop position. A mechanical reel may have, for example, 22 stops. Of course a computer control may include many more virtual stops with the ability to map the computer selected stop to the physical stop on the reel strip as described in Telnaes, U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,419 issued May 15, 1984 and titled “Electronic Gaming Device Utilizing a Random Number Generator for Selecting the Reel Stop Positions”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. A controller, from a known index stop, controls the reel to a stop position to display the selected symbol.
It has been known to provide a game which includes outcome modifier reels. For example U.S. Pat. No. 7,377,850 titled “Gaming Device Having Multiple Bonuses Acting Independently of Simultaneously”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference, discloses a gaming device having reels which spin to define an outcome for a base game and one or more modifier reels which spin to display modifiers such as multipliers for the base game and/or separate awards.
It is believed that the concept of providing “modifiers” to alter or augment the outcome of a base game has not been fully utilized. It would be advantageous to be able to apply modifiers to game outcomes without having to add one or more modifier reels to a game display. For an existing game, it would be advantageous if modifiers could be added to the game without significant alteration of the base game to thereby alter the game's pay structure, provide progressive prizes and refresh the architecture of the game. For new games it would be advantageous if modifiers could be used to provide the designers with numerous options for the game architecture such as how the modifiers will be displayed, if at all, which reels can be affected by modifiers, how the modifiers will affect the function of the game and whether the character of the game, by addition of the modifiers, will change during various triggered features.
It would also be advantageous of the possible addition of modifiers could be triggered by game events internal to the game or by event criteria from an external source such as a external trigger from a connected network, a certain time or date, a event occurring on another game or other predetermined or randomly occurring criteria.